Swinging gate



(No Model.)

SWINGING GATE No. 468,769. Patented Feby9, 1892.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BENJAMIN IIUOKEY, OF GORIN, MISSOURI.

SWINGI NG GATE.

3PECIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 468,769, dated February9, 1892.

Application filed November 3, 1891- Serial No. 410,759- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN HUCKEY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Gorin, in the county of Scotland and State of Missouri, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Swinging Gates; and I dohereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionof the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to whichit appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to an improvement in swinging gates; and itconsists in the peculiar features of construction and arrangement ofparts more fully hereinafter described, and definitely pointed out inthe claims.

The object of my invention is the provision of a self-locking swinginggate, which will be included in the class of gates known as handopeners,and to furnish means, in combination with the self-locking mechanism,for automatically holding the gate in an opened position. In carryingout this objectnamely, the provision of self-locking means and means forautomatically holding the gate in an opened position-J do away with theuse of any locking or securing means between the gate and post againstwhich it closes, the securing means between the gate and post againstwhich it opens being indirect in the form of a lever and connectingbar.These objects I accomplish bythe construction illustrated in theaccompanyingdrawings, wherein like letters of reference indicate likeparts in the several views, and in which Figure 1 is a perspective of mygate, showing it in a closed position. Fig. 2 isa similar View showingit in an opened position, and Fig. 3 a detail view of thesupporting-post for the gate.

In the drawings, A represents the frame of a gate, having thecross-Wires a, which are secured at their ends to the auxiliary end barsa.

a are screws passing through the end bars of the frame A and into theauxiliary end bars a and by means of which the said auxiliary end barscan be adjusted to tighten the wires. By this construction I providemeans for keeping the gate tightly clamped together, which preventssagging and misplacement of the opening mechanism.

B is a post to which the gate A is hinged and has a post 13 in closeproximity thereto, against which the gate opens.

3 is a post having a flange 1), against which the gate closes. I alsoprovide a post B having an arm bextcuding out therefrom to support theactuating-cord.

B is a 'diagoually-extending brace or support secured at one end to thepost B and to the top of the post B. This brace extends to the oppositeside of the gate from which the post 13 is located.

0 is a locking-lever, one end of which is loosely pivoted to the post Bat a point at or about the plane of the top of the gate, the other endbeing provided with a weight a. The under side of the weighted end ofthe lever is formed with a shoulder or offset 0, and is curved slightlydownward from the offse to the end of the lever.

D is a conpecting-ro'd having an eye d at one end thereof, preferablyformed by a single piece of wide flat metal secured at its ends to theupper and lower faces of the rod.

61 is a flattened eye, which passes through the eye 01, having asecuring end 01 which passes through a vertical opening d in the top ofthe gate-frame A, thereby forming a swiveled connection between theconnectingrod and gate. One or more of these openings 01 may be providedfor the sake of adjustment. The object of the wide eye 01 and theflattened eye d is to prevent lateral rocking of the rod D, to allow thefree end of the same to be vertically raised or lowered without bindingby tipping sidewise, and to insure a direct interlocking of the parts.The oppositeend of the rod D is bifurcated, forming the arms E E,between which the lever O is pivoted about midway of its length by a pin6, passing through the openings 6' and e in the lever O and arms E E,respectively. A number of these openings e 6 may be provided to allow ofadjustment. The pivot-pin e is on the same plane or below the plane ofthe pivotal connections between the lever and post B and theconnecting-rod and gate, so that when the gate is closed and thelockinglever and connecting-arm are in a locked position, as shown inFig. 1, it would be impossible to open the gate without first raisingthe free end of the lever O or bending the joint. IVhen the lever is ina locked position,

V the lever, a shoulder on the under side of the the curved under facethereof fits over the rod D, as shown in Fig. 1.

F and F are suitable operating-cords connected with the eye F on theweighted end of the lever, which pass through eyes f on the post 13',arm I), and support 13 and have handles f on the ends thereof.

The operation of my gate is as follows: A

person desiring to open the gate gives one of the cords F a quick sharppull, which throws the lever up and back to the position shown in Fig.2, in which position the weight pulls the lever down, thereby holdingthe gate against the post B. To close the gate. it is only necessary togive one of the cords F another sharp pull, which throws the upper endof the lever toward the post and past its center of gravity, after whichthe lever falls down to the position shownin Fig. 1, closing the gate.In this position theportion of the lever C between the pin 6 and theshoulder c" fits between the arms of the bifurcated end of the lever andforms a rigid joint. In case the pivot-pin e bends or becomes misplacedby a heavy continuous pressure of the gate, the shoulder 0 forms anabutment for the same and holds the gate in its closed position. Thearms E E also form a guide for the lever when the gate is being closed.

It will be seen that my device can be applied to any gate with butlittle expense and trouble, and it does away with thenecessity of looksor latches, which are continually getting out of order or fail to makeconnections as the gate settles.

I am aware that man y minor'changes in the construction and arrangementof the parts of my device can be made and substituted for those hereinshown and described Without in the least departing from the nature andprinciple of my invention.

In Fig. 3 I have shown the hook b on which the upper hinge is placed,which has directly above it a lug 12 located at a point to permit aslight vertical movement of the gate and yet retain the hinge on thehook. The gate is slightly raised as the locking-levers are thrown back,which decreases the friction of the hinges, thus facilitating theopening of the gate.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a swinging gate, the combination, with the gate and a postsituated near the hinged end thereof, of a locking-lever pivoted at oneend to the post, a weight on the other end of weighted end of the lever,a connecting-rod having a swiveled pivotal connection at one end withthe top of the gate, and a bifurcated opposite end between which thelever works and to which the same is pivoted, and means for raising thefree end of the lever, substantially as described.

2. In a swinging gate, the combination, with the gate and a postsituated near the hinged end thereof, of a locking-lever pivoted at oneend to the post, a weight on the other end of the lever, a shoulder onthe under side of the weighted end of the lever, a connecting-rod havinga wide eye d at one end thereof and a bifurcated opposite end betweenwhich the lever works and to which the same is pivoted, a flattened eyed passing through the eye 61 and having a swiveled connection with thetop of the gate, and means for raising the free end of thelocking-lever,substantially as .described.

3. In a swinging gate, the combination, with the gate and a postsituated near the hinged end thereof, of a locking-lever pivoted at oneend to the post, a weight on the other end of the lever, a shoulder onthe under side of the weighted end of the lever, a connecting-rodhavingaswiveled pivotal connection atone end with the top of the gateand a bifurcated opposite end between which the lever works and to whichthe same is pivoted, means for raising the free end of thelocking-lever, means for adjusting the connection between the lever andthe connecting-bar, and means for adjusting the connection between therod and the gate, substantially as described.

4. In aswinging gate, the combination, with the gate and a post situatednear the hinged end thereof, of a locking-lever pivoted at one end tothe post, a weight on the other end of the lever, a shoulder on theunder side of the weighted end of the lever, a connecting-rod having aswiveled pivotal connection at one end with the top of the gate and abifurcated opposite end between which the lever works and to which thesame is pivoted at a point at or below the plane of the pivotalconnections between the locking-lever and post and connecting bar andgate, and means for raising the free end of the locking-lever,substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

BENJAMIN HUCKEY.

W'itnesses:

WILLIAM J. MURPHY, J. T. JACKSON.

